New Jerseyan running for governor of West Virginia

A New Jersey man will seek the Republican nomination for governor of West Virginia.

Patrick Morrisey, a New Jersey native who has been the state attorney general for more than ten years, announced on Tuesday that he would run for governor.  Two-term Republican Gov. Jim Justice is term-limited and is mulling a challenge to a Democratic U.S. Senator, Joe Manchin.

A Rutgers graduate who grew up in Edison and lived in Westfield, Morrisey sought the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district in 2000 when Rep. Bob Franks (R-Warren) gave up his seat to run for the U.S. Senate.   He finished fourth with 8.6% of the vote, behind Mike Ferguson (41%), Tom Kean, Jr. (28%), and Assemblyman Joel Weingarten (23%).

From 1999 to 2004, he was the deputy staff director and chief counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

He later moved to West Virginia and was elected attorney general in 2012, ousting five-term Democratic incumbent Darrell McGraw by two percentage points.  He challenged Machin in 2018 and lost by three points.

Morrisey joins an eight-candidate field to succeed Justice.  A National Research poll released last month shows Morrisey leading Moore Capito, a state legislator and son of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, by a 28%-13% margin.  The poll put Morrisey’s favorables at 58%-25%.